By Mark Evans
Ho! Ho! Ho! Tis the season for giving and thinking to finalize tax considerations when reflecting on the past calendar year. You may receive a return of a 50 percent direct credit to your tax bill when donating up to $200 per individual and $400 for couples filing jointly, given to an Indiana-funded university. Because Purdue Extension is part of a state-funded university, one can donate to the local Extension Office and that would qualify. Therefore, a $100 contribution to the Purdue Extension-Elkhart County program would cost one only $50.
While it might seem I have had too much eggnog, this giving option is for real. The discussion for this column focuses on Elkhart County; these options would most likely be available for any Indiana county if one is reading this with interests from outside of Elkhart County.
One can also specify in many cases how the money would be used (i.e. 4-H youth development, agriculture, natural resources, or health and human science educational programming areas or specific equipment, etc. for teaching). One could even specify the gift be used for a specific educational program or topic (i.e. 4-H STEAM, advanced Master Gardener workshop, nutrition education, workforce development workshop, etc.). Some limitations do exist. For example, funds donated for awards or scholarships would not be eligible for the additional direct state tax deduction.
Source : purdue.edu